Category: Exercise

10 Sitting Exercises for the Workplace

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desk-sitting

 

 

10 Sitting Exercises for Anti-Aging Fitness

  1. Sit tall with a neutral spine (small curve in your middle back, hips level).
  2. Legs spaced comfortably at a 90-degree angle and in alignment with hips.
  3. Feet pointed straight ahead, aligned with knees.
  4. Button navel to spine, reducing pressure on your back.
  5. Place a 4-inch foam ball between your knees to help you maintain position without having to think about it. Squeeze the ball with your inner thigh muscles from time to time to strengthen them and improve circulation.
  6. Keep your shoulders low and relaxed with a wide collarbone. Slide your shoulder blades down from time to time, exhaling as you do so. Be sure you don’t pinch your shoulder blades together. This exercise is extremely important for avoiding carpal tunnel syndrome and neck strain.
  7. Keep your computer keyboard at elbow level; comfortable for arms and wrists — also important for reducing stress to elbows and wrists.
  8. Alternate stretching your neck by looking and then tuck your chin into your chest.
  9. Concentrate on making your neck as long as possible.
  10. Keep a workout band in your desk to use for stretching, strengthening and improving circulation.
  11. Get up from your chair frequently and take a walk around the office. Take the stairs for going between floors whenever possible.

 

– Adapted from “The Anti-Aging Solution” by Vincent Giampapa, M.D., Ronald Pero, Ph.D., Marcia Zimmerman, C.N. Foreword by Nicholas Perricone, M.D. Wiley, March 2004.

Curly Hair Don’t Care

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Giving myself another check over before I hit the NYC pavements. Hairs kinda wet, curly, and a little messy. Don’t care at this point. Just finished two back-to-back classes at Equinox. I must have burnt over 900 calories. I’m tired, hungry, freshly showered, and definitely beat! Right now I’m walking down LEXINGTON Ave getting ready to catch the number 4 train straight to Brooklyn. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the hubby to scoop me at the train station. I’m also thinking about my plant-based protein dinner I need to fix before I hit the sacks. Lentil or black bean burger? No bread of course!

I hear the 6 train coming….

Healthy Eating Equals a Healthy Life!

7 Warning Signs You Must Not Ignore

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Have you ever heard of the term “thin-fat syndrome?” Well, Dr. Mark Hayman says, “it means you are under lean but over fat – not enough muscle and too much fat (especially belly fat).”  Diabetes does not discriminate.  It doesn’t matter if you are skinny or obese, you could be at risk.  Type 2 diabetes is growing rampant in the United States and you need to learn about the signs.  Type II is called “adult onset diabetes” or “non-insulin dependent diabetes” because it most often affects people over forty years old. 

See if you’re vulnerable and what to do next. 

  1. Waking up often during the night to pee
  2. Feeling unusually thirsty
  3. Unexplained weight loss or gain
  4. Frequent yeast infections
  5. Blurry vision
  6. Tingling in the hands and feet
  7. Cuts that don’t heal well or infections that are difficult to get rid of

If you notice even one of these symptoms of diabetes, it’s worth bringing it up with your doctor and asking for a blood test (usually the A1C) to check your blood sugar levels.  The best approach to avoid or reverse it is exercise and diet, which is key regardless of how much you weigh.  Rochelle Naylor, MD, an endocrinologist of Chicago Kovler Diabetes Center recommends cardio and strength training, which can both improve insulin sensitivity. Aiming for 30 minutes a day at five times a week is the minimum requirement.  Curbing the processed foods and simple carbohydrates is important. Not to mention, adding more fiber-rich foods and vegetables into your diet will give you the right balance. I’m a huge advocate for a whole-food plant-based diet.  

Eat clean and get physical! 

More resources: Early symptoms of diabetes and typical medical treatment

EXERCISE-IMAGE BOOST

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Exercise can help people feel thinner and more attractive even if their bodies don’t visibly change. Women who reported feeling social anxiety related to their body’s appearance were assigned a regime of either strength training or aerobics.  After two  months, both groups demonstrated proved body satisfaction, despite scant change in size or shape; eespecially, the erobic exercisers. Aerobics may be more associated in women’s minds with weight loss and “a thinner ideal, even when the scale doesn’t say so,” says lead study author Kathleen A. Nartin Ginis, a professor of health and exercise psychology at McMaster University in Ontario. 

Another study conducted in 1984 showed women who participated in an aerobic-exercise training program showed greater reduction in dression than did those who participated in relaxation training or in a no-treatment control condition (Holmes et al).  Seems like aerobics may be the answer for feeling great about yourself. 

Regular exercise or physical activity helps many of the body’s systems function better, keeps heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other diseases at bay, and is a key ingredient for losing weight. According to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, being physically active on a regular basis:

  • Improves your chances of living longer and living healthier
  • Helps protect you from developing heart disease and stroke or its precursors, high blood pressure and undesirable blood lipid patterns
  • Helps protect you from developing certain cancers, including colon and breast cancer, and possibly lung and endometrial (uterine lining) cancer
  • Helps prevent type 2 diabetes (what was once called adult-onset diabetes) and metabolic syndrome (a constellation of risk factors that increases the chances of developing heart disease and diabetes; read more about simple steps to prevent diabetes)
  • Helps prevent the insidious loss of bone known as osteoporosis
  • Reduces the risk of falling and improves cognitive function among older adults
  • Relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety and improves mood
  • Prevents weight gain, promotes weight loss (when combined with a lower-calorie diet), and helps keep weight off after weight loss
  • Improves heart-lung and muscle fitness
  • Improves sleep

Resources:

Study: Aerobic Fitness and the Redponse to Psychological Stress 

 Allure – May 2015 Issue

Article: Why can too much protein be a problem?